Make Do and Mend

Get crafty

Arts and craft activities are always popular with children and are a great low cost alternative for a Sunday afternoon. Why not try your hand at these starter activities?

The non-scary Scarecrow – Easy and inexpensive to make, a Scarecrow is a fun and whimsical addition to the children’s veggie patch and helps them to understand about protecting their crops … Collect old clothes and items from around the house and stuff with rags, straw or leaves, not forgetting a stake to stand him or her up!

Old Cd’s can be a decorated and hung around a veggie patch to ward of birds and capture the sunlight in your garden … See how creative you can get!

Visit one of the country parks and learn how to make bird an butterfly boxes for a small charge in the school holidays. Take some paper to your local park or open space and design a treasure map with the children, which can be coloured and decorated at home and passed onto a willing pirate to seek the treasure.

A rain maker is a winner with all younger children. A clean plastic bottle with a lid can be painted or covered and filled with lentils or rice. Let your kids dance for much need rain in the garden!

For older children, why not set them a puzzle to get them back in the fresh air? Tracking is great fun and you just need to be creative in setting riddles to guide them around your open space.